I was awakened at 1:00 this morning by the sounds of hard drives spinning up and shutting down, to lights flashing on-and-off. As I stumbled out of bed to see what was the matter. I heard the sound of sheriff and fire brigade radios outside my home.

This unseasonable storm [it's raining in Northern California in late May - so odd] had downed a power line into the wiki(cypress) trees lining our block. Several trees, including the two in my front yard were ON FIRE. There was sparks and crackling from the power line, smoke pouring from the limbs of the 25 to 75 foot trees, and embers falling into the yard below. But there was nothing that could be done until PG&E arrived at 2:30 a.m. PDT. The most spectacular sparkage happened about 15 minutes before the PG&E truck swung into view with its twin spotlights, and then all was quite. Just the smoke streaming into the night sky, illuminated by the spotlights from sheriff cars, fire trucks and PG&E. Until about 4:00 this morning, when the chain saws started. Power came back on a bit before 5:00 a.m. PDT.

Of course, I sent an email to a few friends using my Palm via bluetooth to my cell phone.

I awoke to a drizzle, piles of burned and clean tree limbs along the street, and even a few tree limbs in the low voltage lines. But we have power.

One friend to whom I had written at 2:00 in the morning, suggested that I start a religion based on the event; after all, a 50 foot burning cypress in the rain must trump a burning bush in the desert. Maybe it could be a sect of the Cyprian religion, so called because the devotees of wiki(Aphrodite) were centered on the island of wiki(Cyprus), and maybe even take in some elements from the teachings of wiki(Cyprian,Saint Cyprian) - an early Christian bishop and martyr who died in 258 CE. Maybe not.

BTW, the trees look fine after their fire trim.

Update: I haven't seen the coastal raven couple who hang out in the cypresses all day. Hopefully, the rain just kept them away. I don't think they nest there.

Update 2: It looks like the rain made it to the Pacific Northwest.

Christine called all the remaining jurors together into the Jury Assembly Room to let us know that they're expecting final word. A judge came down to let us know that our service is ended. Monday is their busiest day, as it is the day that the San Mateo Superior Court sets the juries. Today was a very busy day, they had a large number of civil cases and criminal cases, including several very nasty felonies. However, in his words, because of the large jury pool, because of our presence, all but one of those cases settled without going to trial.

Interesting concept. We have 300 people waiting to hang your ass. We suggest you settle/plea bargain NOW.

Seems to have worked. So, was justice served? I guess I'll never know.

Wendy and I are side-by-side using those Gateway Profiles. I'm reading and writing blogs and checking email; Wendy is doing a Y!crossword and checking email.

Jeanie & Christine [our "wardens", no very nice folk really] called one group of 85 to go through the jury selection process about an hour ago. Since then, nothing. Christine just thanked us for waiting so patiently and promised not to keep us any longer than need be.

Wendy's a bit disappointed. She was looking forward to be seeing the judicial system from the inside. She's never served and this is only her second time to be called. Her excitement reminds me of the first time I hired her, 20 years ago. It looks like she still brings that enthusiasm to her life and work. That's fantastic.

Serendipity. My very good friend, Wendy, is here. She too was summoned for Jury Duty today. It's a good thing that I had replied to an email of her's this morning, and mentioned that I was off to be a Juror. She had forgotten.

I wonder what they do to wayward prospective jurors?

I'm now at the jury assembly room at the San Mateo Superior Court in Redwood City. I should have brought my laptop, as they now have WiFi down here. But no cell signal in the "dungeon" as the guards called it; the jury assembly room is in the basement.

Full security is in place, empty your pockets and go through the metal detector. Bags, cases, etc. go through x-ray. I didn't see anyone take off their shoes though. The prospective juror in front of me for the security check has a metal knee [in her own words], but they dealt with it expeditiously.

So, with no cell signal, and without my laptop, how am I blogging? The court system nicely has provided Gateway Profile [computer in the monitor] systems - about a dozen of them. And they are all in use.